POPE AND GLORY: Herb Pope takes a jumper over Pittsburgh’s Talib Zanna for two of his 19 points in Seton Hall’s 73-66 triumph yesterday at Prudential Center.AP

After blowing a dozen-point lead and falling behind by six, after seeing its best defender foul out at a pivotal moment yesterday, Seton Hall’s NCAA tournament dreams seemed on life support. That’s when seniors Jordan Theodore and Herb Pope breathed life back into those hopes and led a 73-66 victory over Pittsburgh at Prudential Center.

The Pirates had dropped six of their last seven and appeared destined for yet another loss, trailing 61-55 with 8:13 left. That’s when Theodore turned to Pope in a timeout huddle and told him they had to lead their team to victory. They did exactly that with 11 points in the decisive 18-5 run to close out the game.

“It all comes down to defensive stops. I thought we were the more hungry team, and it showed,’’ said Pope, who had 19 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks for Seton Hall (17-8, 6-7 Big East). “It’s another win to put us closer to our ultimate goal of getting an NCAA tournament berth, and trying to be above .500. I don’t want to go out a loser.’’

That’s the way it looked for the Pirates after a Nasir Robinson layup put Pittsburgh ahead 61-55 with 8:12 left. Fuquan Edwin scored on a drive that was erased on a charge, resulting in Edwin, the Hall’s best defender, fouling out with 6:40 remaining. But that started a run of 10 unanswered points for the Hall, capped by Heralds Karlis’ 3-pointer.

“Things just started to click,’’ said Theodore, who had 15 points, nine assists and just one turnover. “Pittsburgh’s a great team, but we came together, stayed together and had that will to win.’’

In the final fateful minute, clinging to a 67-66 lead that was tenuous at best, Theodore and Pope ran a perfect pick-and-roll. Pitt (15-11, 4-9) hedged hard, with center Talib Zanna stepping up and Ashton Gibbs (game-high 26 points) coming out to Theodore. The latter bounced a perfect pass to Pope with 32 seconds left.

“I saw two people coming at me, I waited for Herb, we made eye contact and as soon as he slipped I threw him the bounce pass,” Theodore said. “I knew it was good. I told him big-time players make big-time plays. As seniors we have to be the ones to do it, and we delivered.’’

On the next possession, freshman Brandon Mobley stripped Pitt point guard Tray Woodall. As the Hall played keep-away, Robinson was whistled for a flagrant foul on Pope, who made four free throws in the final 10.7 seconds.